Ignition mechanism.



c. AALBGRG.

AIGNITION MECH/mism.. AvPLlcAnoN man AUG.28,`|9|5.

,277,848. y Patented swf. 3,1918.

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES `EATENT oEEioE.

CHRISTIAN AALBOIRG, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 lVIlilSC.I1\TGr- HOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A COREORATION 0F PENN- SYLVANIA.

` IGNITION MECHANISM.

1,277,348. l' Specification 0f Letters Patent-l lPatented Seipt. 3, 1918.

Application led August 28, 1915. Seal No. 47,885. I

To all 'whom emag/ concern.' ance With niy` invention, applied thereto. ne

Be it known that l, CHnisTiAN AALBORG, Fig. is aview, in longitudinal section, of the a citizen of the United States, and a resident ignition Vmechanism of Fig. l, the dynamo- 'of lWilkinsbui'g, in the county of Allegheny electric machine being sliovvn in end eleva-- 5 and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a tion. Fig. 3 is a vievv, in longitudinal secnew and useful Improvement in .Ignition tion, taken on line III-lll of-Fig. l. Fig. to Mechanisms, of which the lollovving is a 4: is a view, in transverse section7 illustrating speciication. i 1 the position of the condenser and its ter-- My'invention relates to ignition ineen minal connections. Fig. 5 is a plan view anisms and particularly to unitary strncof the interruptor mechanism. 6 `is tures invvhich are assembled the several' 'a diagrammatic vi'evv of circuits and appao ignition devices that are embodied in the ratns employed'in connection with my inignition systems ci? internal combustion' vention. @ginge Referring particularly to Figs. l andQ,

My invention has tor its object to -provide an ignition .mechanism l comprises a casa mechanism of the above indicated cliaring 2 which is constructed in three detacli` 7U actor in which the usual separate devices of ably connected parts that are mounted in an ignition system are combined in a simple axial alinement. An intermediate part 3, manner to torni a compact unitary inech- -which may he of vcast iron or other suitable anisrn. material, is provided with a laterally orol/Vlien the several :functions of an ignition jecting portion t that is adapted to be con- 75 systeml are performed by separate devices, nected to the frame or a dynamo-electric it is necessary to employ a large number of machine 5 or other suitable stationary sur conductors 'to interconnect their respective port.

" terminals. Since the electrical connections 'A rotatable shaft 6, which extends longiemployed in the electrical systems of intudinally Within the casing part 3, is conn so teriial combustion engines,` or' ot motor nested, by rneans of a 'Worin-gear inechvehicles, are subjected to severe vibration, .anisinZ to aihat-.S which extends transit is highly desirable that the number otyersely into t'ne casing and may he operaconductora external connections should tively connected to the shaft of the dynamohe reduced to minimnin. electric machine 5 or to` any rotating ineni- 235 fin the present arrangement, l combine v lier of the internal combustion engine. .A the usual .induction coil, condenser, intercondenser' 8? is located 4Within a chamber runter and distributor, in a caitary rnecliwhich is adjacent to partly sn rounds anism. The movable ineinhers of the interthe shaft S.. s i runter and distributor re onerati'vely 'The lovver `,portion of lili-o Casing co'fnoo nected to a siiigl 'T rotating insister. alie prises a member 9 cgt' insulating; material electrical connections between the several 'which is detacliably connected to the interdevlces, which are completed at place mediate memher bysnitahle.screws orloolts of manufacture, are all Within a protecting "10. .ein induction coil il, which is mounted casinL The connections may be incre perin the lower portion of the casing, coininanent and substantial is possible in prises a priinaiy Winding l2, a secondary Aignition as usr ily constructed. winding' i3, and a core member ivliichwis llerangeinent" ot tlic system becanso ci* coingfosed oit laniiiiations of substantially onnded conductors, loose connections T-s'iaoo. The horizontallv-entending porn` similar causes is thereby avoided. .il ineclin tions of the lan'ina'tions l-il may ce so bent ico anisin cons i ictetl as alcove clescrihed may relatively to the vertically extending por he easily and quickly installed, 'l soy en tions that they Proyect radially outwardY in footing a considerable in time and various directions tir-oni tno central portion labor. of the core member. The lainiiiations conl the accoinnanying diiivi,.=.;s, i stitnte a considerable portion ci the maglos l is a 'vietv in transverse section, or notie circuit et the coil. lfheir arrangement tion of a dyisaniolelectrio inacl f i l i o e @we q i es .n im., tet, eccola .aces not inonde any aow.. lint., ...i ont ne,

P L with an insures, however, tnat the magnetic circuit irait/ion oo ...f'

' coacts with a stationary contact member 25 `19 are illustrated in Fig. 5.

that is detachably connected, by means of spring clips 16, to a dislr 17. The latter is provided with a sleeve portion 18 rota tablyr mounted on the shaft 6 and extending intothe intermediate casing member 3. .An

' interrupter 19' and a distributer 20 are inclosed Within the member 15, the rotatable members oflthese circuit-controlling mechanisms being secured to the shaft Gfor rotation therewith. f

The details oithe interrupter, mechanism A cam disk 21, which isprovided with projections 21, corresponding in number to the cylinders of the engine with which it is associated, 1s rigidly secured to` the shaft 6.l A pivotally mounted lever 22 is provided, at an'intermediate portion, with a projecting portion 23 to be engaged by the projections 21a when the shaft 6 rotates. The lever 22 carries, at its outer end, a contact member 24, which to control -the primary circuit of the induction coil A spring 26 normally maintains the lever 22 in its illustrated position with the contact members 24 and 25 'in engagement. The stationary portionof the interrupter is mounted on the disk 17. The latter is provided with slots 27 which coact with screws 28 to limit movements of the disk relatively to thev casing member 3.y

The distributorl mechanism 20 comprises.4 a rotatable member 29A which carries a spring-pressed brush 30 that is electrically connected to a contact ring 31. The member 15 is provided with contact pieces 32 embedded thereinwvhich coact With the brush 30 and which correspond in number to the cylinders of the 'internal combustion engine.l The member 15 thus constitutes ,the

stationary portion of the distributer and a removable cover member for linclosing vthe circuitcontrolling mechanism. A safety spark gap is provided by a member 33, which is electrically connected to the brush 30, and the shaft 6, which is grounded. Any damage that might be caused by excessive voltages or loose connections is thereby en fectually prevented. v

The electrical connections between the secondarv Winding 1310i; the ,induction coil 10 and the distributor 2O are shown in Fig.

3. An electrical \conductor- 34, which is embedded in the insulating material sur-U rounding the induction coil, is soldered or otherwise suitably connected to a kterminal member 35: A spring #pressed brush 3G, which is slidably mounted ina member 37 of conducting material, engages the terui= nal 35. A spring-pressed brush 38, which is mounted in the upper portion of the meinber 37, engages the contact ring 31 that is mountedv on the lower surface of the disy tributer arm 29. sists of a member 15 of insulating material Reference vmay now. be had -to Fig. 6, in which the electrical connections of, the sev-` eral ignition devices are diagrammatically illustrated.' The interruptor cam 21 and the distributor arml 29 are represented as being operatively connected to the armature shaft of the dynamolelectric machine 5. The' dynamo-electric machine, Which may furnish current for lighting and ignition purposes, or for chargmg a storage battery,

is provided with a series eld Winding 40 and a shunt field Winding 41. The primary coil 12 is connected in circuit with the armature of the dynamofelectric machine, the secondary coil 13 being connected to the distributer brush 29. The several contact pieces 32 are connected to corresponding spark plugs 42 of the internal combustion engine.

he terminals of the condenser 8 are respectively connected to the contact members 24 and 25 of the interruptor.

The charging circuit of the dynamo-electric machine is controlled by a cutout 43 which prevents the battery from discharg ing through the generator. -Thecutout 43 comprises a stationary magnetizable member 44, a coil 45 that is in series with the series field Winding 40 and a coil 46 that is in series with the shunt field Winding r41.-

One terminal of each of the coils 45 and 46 is connected to a stationary contact member 47.4 An armature 48, Whichis pivotall mounted, carries a contact member 49 Whic coacts with the contact member 4 7. A spring 50 tends to maintain the'armature 48 in its uppermost positiouto 'disengage the contact members.

The operation of' the ignition'mechanism correspondsl to that of systems embodying' separate devices. When the armature shaft is rotated by the internal combustion engine, the interrupter cam 21 actuates the lever 22 to separate the contact members 24 and 25 storage battery, the contact members 24 and 25 and the primary W1nd1ng`12v of the in` duction coil. A high electromotive force and therebyA open a circuit comprising a.

is generated.inthesecondary circuit lWhich comprises the secondary winding 13, the distributer brush 30, contact piece 32 and the 'spark plug 42 with which thedistributer is connected at that instant, and a sparkj is caused in the corresponding engine cylinder. This .operation is repeated at .each succeeding engagement of a projection on Athe intcrrupter cam/21 and the coacting projection on the interruptor lever 22.

The timing of the ignition spark is, con-A I trolled byl an arm 52 which is connected' to the rotatable dislr 17 upon which the sta-l Vtionary portions of the interrupter andthe distributer are mounted. The Aactuation of the arm 52 varies the angular relation of the stationaryportion of the interrupter v gagement'of contact members 47 and 49.

l comprising the series field winding 40, series vcoil 45, .shunt coil 46 and shunt field winding 41. When the speed reaches the predep termined rate at which the coils 45 and 46 are suiciently energized, the armature member 48 is drawn downwardly against the force of the spring 50 to effect the en- The charging circuit of the generator, which is thereby completed, extends from one terminal of the generatorthrough series field winding 40, series co'il 45, contact members 47 ,and 49, and' 'armature member 48 to ground and thence to the grounded side of `a storage battery which is connected to the other -terminal of the generator., This circuit is maintained as long asthe voltage of the generator exceeds that of the battery.

lf, for any reason, such as, for example, a

, decrease in speed, the voltage of the battery exceeds that of the generator, current tends to flow in `the reverse direction through the charging circuit, and the seriescoil 45, which normally assists the shunt coil 46, now opposes the latter, and the spring drawsthe l armature member 48 upwardly to separate` the contact members 47 vand 49- and thereby open the charging circuit. Y

In addition to' the advantages above set forth, an ignition mechanism constructed in accordance vvvith kmy invention may lbe easily and readily secured to any mechanism in connection with which it is to be operated. Since substantially all of the rotating parts of an engine extend horizontally,the devicemay be mounted in a vertical position and its operative connection to ahorizontal shaft readily effected. By arranging the intermediate portion ofthe easing to be secured to a suitable support, the upper and lower portions of the casing may lbe easily and readily removed for inspection or repair of the parts inclo'sed therein.

I claim'as my invention 1. In an `ignition mechanism, the combination with a substantially cylindrical casin'g -having a plurality' of parts` comprising an` intermediate part land other parts deA tachably connected thereto, and a circuitcontrolling mechanism within said casing, of `a driving shaft extending intothe side of said intermediate: partat rightanglesto *the axis of the casing and operatively connected to said mechanism.

e 2. In an ignition mechanism, the combination with a casing comprising a lplurality of detachably connected parts in axial alinement, of a rotatable shaft and a condenser in one of said parte, a circuit controlling mechanism in a second of said' parts operatively connected to said shaft, and an induc-.

tion coil in a third of said parts electrically connected to said circuit controlling mechamsm.

of detachably connected' parts, of a rotatable shaft lin one of,said parts, a circuit-controlling -mechanism in a second of said parts operatively connected to said shaft, an induction coil in a third part of said Casin electricallyconnected `to said circuit contro y 3.-" In an ignition mechanism, the combii nat-ionl with a casing comprising a vplurality ling mechanism, and means Vfor driving said shaft.

A 4. Inan ignition mechanisnn, the combination with a casing having a plurality of parts comprisingan intermediate part and ay plurality of partsv detachably connected thereto, of a .rotatable shaft in said intermediate part,l an interruptor and ak distributer in one' of said detachable parts and operatively connected to said shaft, and an induction coil in a second of said detachable v parts.

5. In an ignition mechanism, the combination with a casin member having means for securing to a suitable support, and a ro'- tatable shaft within saidca'sing member, olfk a member rotatable relatively to said casing member, a circuit-controlling mechanism connected to sald rotatable member and op'- eratively connected to said shaft, and a re-Y fmovable .cover member for4 -inclosing said 'mechan1sm.

6. In an ignition mechanismjthe combination with a casing memberhaving means for securing to a suitable support, and a rotatable shaft within said casing member, of a member rotatable relatively to said casing member, a circuit-controlling mechanism atively connected to s aid shaft, saidlm'echamsm comprising a distributer brush and a removable coverv memberI of insulating rma- Y, connected tosaid casing memberand` operterial having aplurality of spaced contact members for coacting with said brush.

7. In-an ignition mechanism, thecombination with a casing member having means for securing to a suitable support, anda rotatable shaft within said 'casing member, of

a member rotatable relativcl to said casingk member, aF circuit-controlling mechanism connected to said rotatable memberl and operatively connected to said shaft, said mechanism comprisinga distributer brush and a removable coverv member of insulating v'ma'- teria-l connected to said. rotatable membera condenser adjacent said shaft, a circuit-y controlling mechanism operatively con neeted to said shaft, and a driving shaft eX` tending into said easing member transversely to said shaft and operatively oonnected thereto.

9. In an ignition mechanism, the combination with a casing member, a rotatable member therein, and a shaft extending into said casing member and operatively oonneeted Ato said rotatable member, of 'an inlterrupter and a distributer operatively oonneoted to said rotatable member, means for varying the angular relation of said interrup'ter and distrihuter relatively to said shaft, a second easing member of insulating material connected to 'the other casing'mem-- ber and in axial alinement therewith, and an induction e011 in the second easing meinloer electrically connected to said distrib- Grannemanl Annone, 

